John Green was born in Alleghany County, Md., Aug. 4, 1789, a son of Benjamin and Catherine (Been [sic: Beem]) Green, his father of English and his mother of Holland descent. His ancestors came to the United States prior to the Revolution and were prominently identified with that struggle for independence. In 1801 his parents moved to Licking County, Ohio, and there he grew to manhood. He was reared a farmer and owned a large farm in Ohio, and was also an extensive contractor. He constructed about fifteen miles of the Ohio Canal, employing 200 men, and after coming to Illinois built two miles of the Illinois Canal feeder, between Dayton and Ottawa. He was married in 1813, near Newark, Ohio, to Barbara Grove, daughter of John and Barbara (Leinbarger) Grove. In 1829 they came to Illinois with teams and located in La Salle County, buying land in Rutland Township. In 1832 Mr. Green bought the land which is now the site of Dayton, and built a fort around the house as a protection from the Indians, near where the house of Isaac Green now stands. He was one of the most prominent of the early settlers and assisted materially in the development of the county. He lived to see the many improvements that make La Salle one of the most prosperous counties of the State, his death occurring May 17, 1874. Mrs. Green is still living. She was born Nov. 15, 1792, and although ninety-three years of age is still in the enjoyment of all her faculties, save her eyesight, of which she has been deprived the past six years.¹

See also his entry in the CEMETERY section.

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1. History of La Salle County, Illinois, 2 vols. (Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co.,1886), 2: 95-96.